opposites attract
out garden
Garage garden The shallow bed on the garage roof needed to visually link with the front yard. Prostrate rosemary and dichondra ‘Silver Falls’ tumble over the wall, connecting with the silver-leafed kalanchoes in the lower garden.
Landscape designer Peter Fudge uses succulents and textural elements in his own Sydney garden Words Robin Powell Photography Jason Busch
Front yard Owner Peter has used pea gravel and islands of plantings across both the garage and front yard. White-flowering sedum draws attention to the decorative tiles forming the riser. Rosemary and westringia match the mounds of succulents.
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out garden
Garage rooftop garden A shallow bed of succulents on a reinforced and waterproofed roof is a clever solution to the sun glare that used to reflect into the house.
Garden Drifts of plants are nestled in gravel. Here, dichondra ‘Silver Falls’ spills over the wall, under the canopy of four crepe myrtle trees.
“ I like the Japanese approach to texture as a visual feast – the way they interwine soft and hard landscaping to make a subtle impression” peter fudge, landscape designer & owner
Verandah Wes the dog settles in on the front verandah. On show are pots displaying Peter’s succulents, collected for more than a decade. “I love the subtle colour of succulents and their interesting forms,” he says.
L
andscape designer Peter Fudge gets a kick out of
transforming outdoor spaces from brutal to beautiful. So when the Fudge family (including wife Brigitte; Archie, 14; Lola, 13; and Wes the dog) moved to a Californian bungalow in Sydney’s eastern suburbs four years ago, Peter was only too pleased to be lying awake at night dreaming up options for the front garden. The space was aching for a makeover. West-facing, it was dominated by a flat-roofed garage that ricocheted a blindingly violent glare into the front room every afternoon. Beyond an unappealing cut-concrete fence, a red concrete path curved to the verandah. Where to start? “I took my cue from the existing crepe myrtle, which was the only thing in the garden worth keeping,” explains Peter. Three small, white-flowered ‘Natchez’ crepe myrtles from the ‘Indian Summer’ series, including one in a large lightweight pot, joined the original pink to create the sense of a grove. These trees provide the main seasonal interest in the garden, flowering in summer, colouring up in autumn, and losing their leaves in winter to show off coloured and textured bark. To soften the appearance of the garage roof and provide a view from the front room worth opening the curtains for, Peter had the garage waterproofed and reinforced so that it could support a shallow garden. The next challenge was to link the garage ‘garden’ Inside Out / 133
out garden
Rooftop planting A direct link to the front garden, the dichondra ‘Silver Falls’ cascades down the front of the garage. Further back, kalanchoe ‘Silver Spoons’ and crassula ‘Glauca’ provide more textural interest. Fencing and details Hardwood posts and stainless-steel wire form a relaxed fence that doesn’t distract from the verdant view. In the background, a Peter Fudge Gardens pot is planted with a crepe myrtle.
“ In a small space, you need to create something holistic. The plants and materials have to be tied together”,
Peter fudge, owner
with the main front garden 1.2 metres beneath it. Peter’s solution was a flooring of pea gravel taken to all four borders of the front yard, broken up with pockets of low planting. The plants he chose are low-maintenance, drought-tolerant beauties with the grit to stand up to the west-facing power of the afternoon sun in summer. Beyond their environmental suitability though, plant choice was driven by form and texture. “I like the Japanese approach to texture as a visual feast – the way they interwine soft and hard landscaping to make a subtle impression,” explains Peter. So, there is westringia and rosemary kept low but informally pruned, rather than trimmed into buns, as well as dwarf raphiolepis. Adding their wonderful forms and colours to this background of green are great plantings of succulents, particularly kalanchoe tomentosa, kalanchoe ‘Silver Spoons’ and crassula ‘Blue Bird’. The overall colour theme of the planting is grey, green and silver, seamlessly matching the light ash and mid-grey tones of the house and garage wall. This tonal scheme also complements the oversized bluestone pavers that stagger through the gravel to 134 / Inside Out
the front verandah, which is tiled with dark grey and white pavers in a graphic pattern. A single line of original milky green tiles forms a decorative riser on the stairs. Curtains of dichondra ‘Silver Falls’, which complement the sun-bleached hardwood posts that anchor a transparent stainless-steel wire fence, fall down the garage wall and from large pots of succulents on the verandah. Succulents are a special passion of Peter’s and he has varieties of them planted on pedestals, tables and the floor of the verandah. “I like it to look eclectic and not too designed,” says Peter of his collection. “The pots are as much a part of the collection as the plants and there are retro ’50s pots as well as ceramic, concrete and terracotta. I’m not tied down by colour or material – it all works.” The oldest of the succulent collection is a coral tree, crassula ovata ‘Coral’, which Peter reckons could be 20 years old, and has moved from house to house, just like the bleached wood Adirondack chair that has pride of place on the porch. “It’s really important, that chair,” jokes Peter. “That’s where I sit and work out what I can do next.” For more details on Peter’s work, visit peterfudgegardens.com.au.
top 4 succulents Find out what these hardy plants can offer your garden “These plants were all chosen for their colour and ability to adapt to sandy soil,” says owner Peter Fudge. Kalanchoe tomentosa (top left) Commonly known as the panda plant, this sun-loving and easy-to-care succulent is instantly recognisable with its red-rimmed tips and very soft felt-like silver-green leaves. Crassula ovata undulata (top right) “These have a tight habit and have wavy aqua-coloured leaves,” says Peter. Easy to maintain and drought-tolerant, this jade plant can also thrive in a container or indoors.
Sedum sediforme (above left) This low-maintenance evergreen sedum features tunnel-like mounds with small flowers that sprout out in summer. “This plant naturalises in pots and gravel,” says Peter. Agave murpheyi (above right) “This agave has a dramatic habit, with spiky dark-green silvery leaves,” says Peter. This is a bold, sculptural plant that loves full sun and can handle lower water levels.